Tom wrote:
What in the world am I doing wrong?

I didn't see any sourdough information at the link you provided. If it
is an internal link on the page, it'd be nice if you shared it.

However, I prefer to let the starter double before I use it. My mantra,
which probably isn't entirely accurate, is if your starter can't double
itself, it can't double your bread.

Also, dough development is very important.

The recipe you posted was:
2 cups starter
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
It isn't clear from your notes what sort of flour you are using. You
mention you are feeding your starter whole wheat flour. On my web page,
http://www.sourdoughhome.com, I suggest people learn the mechanics using
white flour before using whole wheat. Whole wheat is harder to work with.

Also, you need more water when you work with whole wheat. Where a white
bread might be about 60 to 70% water by bakers percentages, whole wheat
is usually closer to 85%.

One other recurring beginner problem is they believe the cookbooks that
tell them the dough should be smooth, shiny and not sticky. Most
beginners add more flour to get rid of the stickiness. And that leads
to very, very dry dough which leads to doorstops.

Whole wheat is more problematical in this regard, because while it
absorbs more water than white flour, it does so more slowly. So, when
the dough feels right to the beginner (and it's too dry), it is going to
get still dryer as the flour absorbs the water.

Beatrice Ojakangas, one of my favorite bread cookbook authors, puts it
more simply, "Dough would rather be a bit too wet than a bit too dry."
Put another way, wetter is better.

In looking at your recipe, I'd start by omitting the sugar.

Let's start with starter feeding. I feed my starter 2 parts water to 3
parts flour by volume, or 1 part flour to 1 part water by weight. I
feed the starter twice a day when it's at room temperature. With each
feeding, I feed it enough to double it in size. If you feed it less,
you are starving it. The starter should be able to rise until doubled
after each feeding. (Many people, like Joe, keep their starter drier.
There are many good reasons to do this, and that is what I do in the
bakery. However, for beginners, I find it is easier to work with the
starter as outlined above.)

Next, I'd feed my starter and let it rise until it's doubled.

Then, I'd put the two cups of starter into a bowl, add all the
ingredients except the flour and then add 1/2 the flour called for and
stir the dough together.

When it's stirred, I'd add more flour about 1/4 cup at a time until the
dough has come together and is difficult to stir. At that point, I'd
turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured work surface, cover it
with your mixing bowl, let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes, and then uncover
it and begin kneading. The wait period is to the whole heat flour will
have time to absorb the water in the dough, so you'll be less likely to
add too much flour.

As you knead, your goal is not to remove the stickiness, just to get it
to a point where it would rather stick to itself than to you or the work
surface. At this point, I would pretend I was Ebenezer Scrooge from "A
Christmas Carol" and that flour cost as much as Saffron ("The Most
Expensive Spice In The World(tm)"). Add it a tablespoon at a time. You
want to add as little flour as possible. If you add too much, the dough
will get to dense, and neither sourdough nor yeast nor bread faeries nor
explosives will be able to raise it.

When the dough is smooth, when it springs back when you touch it, it is
probably ready. At that point, put a teaspoon of oil in a clean bowl.
Roll the dough into a ball, then roll the ball of dough in the oil.
Cover the bowl with clingwrap and let the dough rise until doubled. If
your house is cool, you might put the bowl into your oven with just the
oven light on. (Overall, slower rises are better, but this time out, we
want to make sure your bread will work out for you.)

When your dough has doubled in size, uncover it, knead it lightly, and
then form it into a loaf and put it into a loaf pan. You shouldn't fill
the loaf pan more than 1/2 full so the dough will have room to rise.
When people over-fill the loaf pan, the dough rises to fill the pan too
quickly and they bake the bread before it has had a chance to completely
develop its taste and character.

Cover the dough with clingwrap and let it rise.

When the dough is close to having doubled, remove the bread pan from the
oven and preheat your oven to 425F. When the oven is at the right
temperature, uncover the dough and put it into the oven. At about 15
minutes, lower the temperature to 350F and turn the loaf around. About
20 minutes later, pull the loaf of bread out of the oven and slide it
out of the bread pan. Tap the bottom. It should sound hollow. If not,
put it back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so.

Some people prefer to use a cold-start oven technique where the dough is
put into a cold oven and then the oven is turned on. There are many
reasons to do that, but I find too much depends on your oven and how
fast it heats up. Once you get the simpler method working, you can give
the cold start a try.

Good luck,
Mike